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Management Winter 2014 / 41

IN THE MIDST OF CHAOTIC no matter what your circum- stances or goals, we can assure you of one thing: you will be bet- ter if you are a skilled thinker. As a manager, leader, employ- ee, citizen, friend, parent — in every realm and situation of your life — good thinking pays Poor thinking, in turn, inevitably causes problems, wastes time and energy and engenders frustra- tion and pain.

Critical thinking is the disciplined art of ensuring that you use the best thinking you are capable of in any set of circum- stances, which entails asking yourself questions such as, What is really going on in this situation? Am I deceiving myself when I believe that ...? What are the likely consequences of failing to ...? If I want to do X, what is the best way to prepare for it? How can I be more successful in doing Y? Is this really my biggest problem, or do I need to focus my attention somewhere else?

Successfully responding to such questions is the daily work of thinking. However, to maximize the quality of your thinking, you must learn to become an ‘critic’ of it; and to be- come an critic of your thinking, you have to make learn- ing about thinking a priority. In this article, we will help you get started on this path.

Learning About Thinking Ask yourself these rather unusual questions: What do you know about how the mind processes information? What do you really know about how to analyze, evaluate or reconstruct your think- ing? Where does your thinking come from? How much of it is of good quality, and how much of it is vague, muddled, incon- sistent, inaccurate, illogical or Are you, in any real sense, in control of your thinking?

If you are like most people, the only honest answers to these questions will run along the lines of, ‘Well, I suppose I really don’t know much about my thinking or about thinking in gen- eral. I suppose in my life I have more or less taken my thinking for granted. I don’t really know how it works. I have never really studied it. I don’t know how I test it, or even if I do test it. It just happens in my mind automatically.’

It is important to realize that the serious study of thinking — serious thinking about thinking — is rare. It is not a subject in most universities, and it is seldom found in our culture. But if you focus your attention for a moment on the role that your think- ing plays in your life, you will come to recognize that, in fact, everything you do, want or feel is by your thinking.

The best thinkers among us study the mind and apply what they learn to their own thinking. by Paul and Linda Elder

ROT221

LEARNING THE ART OF

CRITICAL THINKING

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And if you become persuaded of that, you will be surprised that humans show so little interest in thinking.

To make significant gains in the quality of your thinking, you will have to engage in a kind of work that most of us find un- pleasant, if not painful: intellectual work. Once this heavy lifting is done and we move our thinking to a higher level of quality, it is not hard to keep it at that level. Still, there is the price you have to pay to step up to the next level: one doesn’t become a skillful critic of thinking overnight, any more than one becomes a skill- ful basketball player or musician overnight. To become better at thinking, you must be willing to put the work into thinking that skilled improvement always requires.

This means you must be willing to practice special ‘acts’ of thinking that are, initially at least, uncomfortable, and some- times challenging. You have to learn to do with your mind ‘moves’ analogous to what accomplished athletes learn to do (through practice and feedback) with their bodies. Improvement in thinking, in other words, is similar to improvement in other domains of performance, where progress is a product of sound theory, commitment, hard work and practice.

In this article we will present four recommendations which, when applied, result in a mind practicing skilled thinking. Al- though we have selected these particular four, many others could have instead been chosen. There is no magic in these spe- cific ideas: it is important to understand them as a sampling of all the possible ways in which the mind can work to discipline itself, to think at a higher level of quality and to function better in the world.

1. Clarify Your Thinking Our own thinking usually seems clear to us, even when it is not. Vague, ambiguous, muddled, deceptive or misleading thinking is a significant problem in life. If we are to develop as thinkers, we must learn the art of clarifying our thinking, of pinning it down, spelling it out, and giving it a specific meaning.

To figure out the real meaning of what people are saying,

you have to look not only on the surface, but also beneath the surface. There are various ways to do this: try to figure out the real meaning of important news stories, or explain your under- standing of an issue to someone to help clarify it in your own mind. Here’s what you can do to begin: when people explain things to you, summarize, in your own words, what you think they just said. When you cannot do this to their satisfaction, you haven’t really understood what they said. Likewise, when they cannot summarize what you have said to your satisfaction, they don’t really understand what you said. Try it, and see what hap- pens. The fact is, you should neither agree nor disagree with anyone until you clearly understand them.

STRATEGIES FOR CLARIFYING YOUR THINKING:

• State one point at a time. • Elaborate on what you mean. • Give examples that connect your thoughts to life experiences. • Use analogies and metaphors to help people connect your

ideas to a variety of things that they already understand. For example, ‘critical thinking is like an onion’: there are many layers to it. Just when you think you have it basically figured out, you realize there is another layer, and another, and so on and so on.

EXERCISE:

• I think __________ (state your main point). • In other words, ___________ (elaborate your main point). • For example, ___________ (give an example of your main

point). • To give you an analogy, ________ (give an illustration of your

main point).

TO HELP TO CLARIFY SOMEONE ELSE’S THINKING, CONSIDER ASKING

THE FOLLOWING:

• Can you restate your point in other words? I didn’t quite un- derstand you.

When people explain things to you, try to summarize, in your own words, what you think they just said.

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• Can you provide an example? • Let me tell you what I understand you to be saying. Did I un-

derstand you correctly?

2. Stick to the Point Disciplined thinking intervenes when thoughts wander from what is pertinent and germane, concentrating the mind on only those things that help it figure out what it needs to figure out. Undisciplined thinking is often guided by associations (‘this reminds me of that, and that reminds me of this other thing’) rather than what is logically connected (‘If a and b are true, then c must also be true’).

When thinking is relevant, it is focused on the main task at hand. It selects what is salient, pertinent and related. It is on the alert for everything that connects to the issue, and sets aside what is immaterial, extraneous and beside the point. What is relevant directly bears upon (and helps solve) the problem you are trying to solve. When thinking drifts away from what is relevant, it needs to be brought back to what truly makes a difference.

Always be on the lookout for fragmented thinking — think- ing that leaps about with no logical connections, and start no- ticing when you or others fail to stay focused on what is rel- evant. Focus on finding what will aid you in truly solving a problem. When someone brings up a point (however true) that doesn’t seem pertinent to the issue at hand, ask, ‘How is that relevant to the issue?’

When you are working through a problem, make sure you stay focused on what sheds light on the problem. Don’t allow your mind to wander to unrelated matters, and don’t allow others to stray from the main issue. Frequently ask, What is the central question here? Is this or that relevant to it? How so?

EXERCISE: ASK YOURSELF

• Am I focused on the main problem or task? • Does my information directly relate to the problem or task?

• Where do I need to focus my attention? • Are we being diverted to unrelated matters? • Am I failing to consider relevant viewpoints? • What facts are going to help us answer the question? • Does this truly bear on the question? How does it connect?

3. Question Questions Most of us accept the world as it is presented to us and are not skilled questioners. Even when we do question something, our questions are often superficial or ‘loaded’, which doesn’t help one solve problems or make better decisions.

Good thinkers routinely ask questions in order to under- stand and effectively deal with the world around them. They question the status quo on a regular basis, because they know that things are often different from the way they are presented. Their questions penetrate images, masks, fronts and propa- ganda, make real problems explicit and discipline their think- ing through those problems.

If you become a student of questions, you can learn to ask powerful questions that lead to a deeper and more fulfilling life. Our advice is to be on the lookout for questions — the ones you ask, and the ones you fail to ask. Listen to other people, and begin to notice when they question and when they fail to question. Look closely at the questions being asked. Which questions do you ask, and which ones should you ask? Exam- ine the extent to which you are a questioner, or simply one who accepts the definitions of situations given by others.

STRATEGIES FOR FORMULATING MORE POWERFUL QUESTIONS:

• Whenever you don’t understand something, ask a question of clarification.

• Whenever you are dealing with a complex problem, formu- late the question you are trying to answer in several differ- ent ways (being as precise as you can) until you hit upon the way that best addresses the problem at hand.

• Whenever you plan to discuss an important issue or problem,

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write out, in advance, the most significant questions you think need to be addressed. Be ready to change the main question, but once made clear, help those in the discussion stick to the question, making sure the dialogue builds to- wards an answer that makes sense.

QUESTIONS THAT DISCIPLINE YOUR THINKING:

• What precise question are we trying to answer? • Is there a more important question we should be addressing? • Is there a question we should answer before we attempt to

answer this question? • What information do we need to answer the question? • What conclusions seem justified in light of the facts? • What is our point of view? Do we need to consider another? • Is there another way to look at the question? • What are some related questions we need to consider?

4. Be Reasonable One of the hallmarks of a critical thinker is the disposition to change one’s mind when given a good reason to. Skilled thinkers actually want to change their thinking when they discover even better thinking; they can always be moved by reason. Yet, comparatively few people are reasonable by this definition: few are willing to change their minds once they are set, and few are willing to suspend their beliefs to fully hear the views of those with which they disagree.

Our advice is to always be on the lookout for reasonable and unreasonable behaviour — yours and that of others. Listen to what people say, and look closely at what they do. Notice when you are unwilling to listen to the views of others, and when you simply see yourself as ‘right’ and others as ‘wrong’. At these mo- ments, ask yourself whether their views might have some merit,

THINKING GETS US INTO TROUBLE BECAUSE WE OFTEN:

• jump to conclusions

• fail to think-through implic ations

• lose track of our goal

• are unrealistic

• focus on the trivial

• fail to notice contradictions

• accept inaccurate information

• ask vague questions

• give vague answers

• ask loaded questions

• ask irrelevant questions

• confuse questions of different types

• answer questions we are not competent to answer

• come to conclusions based on inaccurate or irrelevant information

• ignore information that does not support our view

• make inferences not justified by our experience

• distort data and state it inaccurately

• fail to notice the inferences we make

• come to unreasonable conclusions

• fail to notice our assumptions

• miss key ideas

• use irrelevant ideas

• form superficial concepts

• misuse words

• ignore relevant viewpoints

• c annot see issues from points of view other than our own

• are unaware of our prejudices

• think narrowly

• think imprecisely

• think simplistic ally

• think superficially

• think ethnocentric ally

• think egocentric ally

• think irrationally

• are poor communic ators

• have little insight into our own ignorance

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and see if you can break through your defensiveness to hear what they are saying. Also notice unreasonableness in others: identify times when people use language that makes them appear rea- sonable, although their behaviour indicates otherwise. Try to figure out why you, or others, are being unreasonable. Might you have a vested interest in not being open-minded in this particu- lar situation? Might they?

STRATEGIES FOR BECOMING MORE REASONABLE:

• Say aloud, “I am not perfect: I make mistakes and I am often wrong.” See if you have the courage to admit the following during a disagreement: “Of course, I could be wrong. You may be right.”

• Practice saying in your own mind, “I am willing to change my mind when given good reason.” Then look for opportuni- ties to make changes in your thinking.

• Ask yourself, “When was the last time I changed my mind because someone gave me better reasons for her views than I had for mine?” To what extent are you open to new ways of looking at things?

REALIZE THAT YOU ARE BEING CLOSE-MINDED IF YOU:

• Are unwilling to listen to someone’s reasons; • Are irritated by the reasons people give you; or • Become defensive during a discussion.

WHEN YOU CATCH YOURSELF BEING CLOSE-MINDED, ANALYZE WHAT

WAS GOING ON IN YOUR MIND BY COMPLETING THESE STATEMENTS:

• I realize I was being close-minded in this situation because ... • The thinking I was trying to hold on to is ... • Thinking that is potentially better is ... • This thinking is better because ...

Dr. Richard Paul is a pioneer in the global critical thinking movement. He is Director of Research at the Center for Critical Thinking, Chair of the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking, and author of seven books

on critical thinking. Educational Psychologist Dr. Linda Elder is President of the Foundation for Critical Thinking and Executive Director of the Center for Critical Thinking. The two are co-authors of 30 Days to Better Thinking and Bet- ter Living Through Critical Thinking: A Guide for Improving Every Aspect of Your Life (FT Press, 2012). For more, visit criticalthinking.org.

In closing The recommendations presented herein are but a few of the myriad ways in which critical thinkers can bring intellectual discipline to bear upon their thinking. In the end, the best think- ers are those who understand the development of thinking as a process occurring throughout many years of practice. They recognize the importance of learning about the mind, about thoughts, feelings and desires and how these functions of the mind interrelate. They are adept at taking thinking apart, and then assessing the parts when analyzed. In short, they study the mind, and they apply what they learn to their own thinking.

Skilled thinkers actually want to change their thinking when they discover even better thinking.